This Year Everything Will Be Different
by xTroublesomePersonx
Summary: AU. Amu is excited about starting high school in a new town, where she can once and for all change her image and become someone with a warmer personality, who can easily make close friends. But when she befriends her classmate Ikuto, as well as his alleged enemies, Tadase and Kukai, all at the same time, she may find that she got a lot more than she bargained for… Rated T.
1. First Day

**A/N: Hello ~ !**

 **For those of you who may read some of my other stuff, I know that I haven't been on here for quite a while now... GOMEN, everyone! School and work has been keeping me very busy. But, I thought that I would finally upload this story. I started it many years ago, while I was still watching the anime ('uh, but the anime finished'… yes, that is how long it's been!), but I kept getting stuck while writing, giving up on the story, and then returning to it later. And now, after all this time, I'm actually almost done with it!** ***showers self with cookies***

 **Anyway, enough about me... I've always been a sucker for high school stories, and, while I have not published a lot on here, I have written quite a few of those – and this is no exception! And Amu/Ikuto is one of my favorite anime pairings, so what could be better than a high school fic centering on them! I was writing this story while watching the anime, so some of the themes have been borrowed from there; however, the story in itself has of course not (that would be too boring!).**

 **Enjoy (and review)!**

 **1\. First Day**

Amu Hinamori turned the corner by the school one minute before the scheduled time. She was out of breath, slightly sweating, and she was pretty sure that her hair was one big mess because of the rush. To put it simply, the morning hadn't exactly gone as planned.

Amu's alarm clock had been supposed to go off at 7.45, but for some strange reason it hadn't, and she didn't wake up before 8.30. She had of course flown out of the covers and into the bathroom, somehow managing to get in and out of there in minutes. She had hurriedly found her new school uniform and pulled it on, realizing that she had put her skirt on the wrong way just in time. While jumping around with one foot in her skirt, she had also realized she couldn't find her hair clips, and when she finally did, she hadn't been able to find matching ones.

Amu drew a heavy sigh. It _really_ hadn't been her morning. But at least, now she was here. And though she hadn't had any breakfast, her hair was sort of messed, and her hair clips didn't match, she felt happy butterflies in her stomach thinking about how new it all was.

 _High School._ Amu let a small smile form on her lips. She was now officially in high school. She joined the crowd of excited newcomers in the schoolyard, trying to look as unaffected as possible. A few students turned their heads to look at her for a moment, but she just looked the other way, hoping they were only staring because they recognized her, and not because of her messy appearance. A few moments later they all looked away again, and she sighed quietly in relief.

Amu had to admit that she had been a little nervous about starting high school. Although, she had always been rather popular at her old school, she had never really had any close friends. She had earned a reputation of being cool and tough early on, which had made most of the others too timid to connect with her. Amu had always felt a little lonely for that reason, so when she had had to move during the summer, she hadn't been too upset about it, but rather been hopeful for the chance to start over in a new place.

She nervously tucked on her skirt and adjusted her hair clips. _Maybe I can finally get some real friends,_ she thought, smiling optimistically for herself. _Someone, who'll want to be my friend, because they like me as a person, not because I have a certain reputation._

She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts by a loud voice behind her. She gazed out of the corner of her eye to see if it was somebody interesting. They turned out to be more than that.

"I cannot believe they still make people stand out here, like it's Elementary School."

Amu turned her head. The blonde girl who had spoken apparently worked like that; a lot of guys turned their heads as well, when the beautiful creature approached. She didn't dignify to look at them, but just watched the tall guy next to her through passionate, dark purple eyes.

"Or what do you think, Ikuto?"

Amu just stared in wonder when the guy suddenly caught her eye. He was tall and lean and if Amu had been in doubt whether a school uniform could actually make you look hot, she wasn't anymore. The guy had messy, yet silky-looking navy hair that feel into his dark eyes. He had his hands in his pockets and a careless, yet serious look on his face.

 _Wow…_

"Whoops, sorry!"

 **BUMP!**

Amu found herself lying flat on her face on the ground before she had even noticed what was going on. When she realized that everybody was either staring or laughing, she blushed bright red.

 _And on the first day, too? Aww…_

"Oh, no, I'm so sorry! Are you OK?"

Amu looked up at a pair of green eyes, surrounded by a cute face that right now held a rather worried expression. Rich brown hair fell in to the handsome face, sticking out of a casual basket cap.

The guy held out a hand and she gratefully took it, trying not to care about all the people looking at her.

"Thanks," she said coolly, sending him a sarcastic look a raised eyebrow. He grinned apologetically and rubbed his neck.

"My bad," he said. Amu noticed that he was carrying a ball under his other arm.

"Yeah, it was," she told him, but since he had apologized to her, she gave a friendly smile. "But I forgive you."

"Ah, you're great!" he exclaimed and made a thumbs-up. She just gave him another smile.

Then she heard a discrete cough. "Nice fall."

Being the ever proud and obstinate person she was, Amu turned around to tell off the one who had spoken. It was none other than the beautiful girl from before. The blonde was smirking at her with her arms crossed, and her expression quickly told Amu that this girl was nothing but trouble. She still wasn't just going to let this pass, though.

Amu just raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked coolly. The blonde narrowed her eyes, smirking even wider.

"Me? Please. I don't like to waste my time talking to losers."

Slightly annoyed, Amu turned her back at the girl, saying: "That makes two of us, then."

She heard the crowd snickering and the whispering, but she just ignored it. The blonde probably made a face at her or something right now, but she didn't care. Some people were just born jerks.

"Hey! Watch out!" The guy from before suddenly addressed her again and she just barely avoided getting hit by his soccer ball. He quickly caught it and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It seems to have taken a liking to you."

Amu shook her head, but couldn't help smiling. This guy surely was out-going.

Suddenly, the bell sounded, and the crowd of freshmen begun pushing and elbowing their way inside the school building. Amu just followed, getting mashed into the crowd along with the soccer player. Somehow, the navy-haired guy also ended up right beside her, and she quickly looked the other way and pretended that she didn't even notice him.

Not that he would care, anyway.

A bunch of teachers and upperclassmen were waiting for them inside. They were handing out papers, folders and student handbooks to the newcomers. Amu received her own paper stack and quickly skimmed the list of classes to see where she was supposed to go.

She quickly found her own name on the list. After a quick look at the school map she saw that her homeroom class was located somewhere at the far ending of the building, far away from both the laboratories and the cafeteria. Sighing soundly, she pulled her bag up on her shoulder and started walking down the hallway in direction of the class.

The other newcomers seemed to have located their homeroom classes as well, and the hallway was full of students milling about in different directions, school maps in hand. Amu noticed that a small group of students seemed to be heading to the same class as her, and so she followed a few steps behind.

Fortunately, the classroom was not quite as far away as she had feared. She anxiously entered, hoping that this really was the right classroom and that it wasn't too dingy. To her relief, her new homeroom classroom was big and bright with many big windows. She had spent way too much time in small, dark, and dusty rooms during her school years as it was, so she was delighted to discover that she did not have to cope with that anymore.

Some of her classmates had already found a seat. Amu nervously went to the back of the class to sit at a nice and discrete spot by the windows. She didn't want to attract attention.

"Good morning, everyone!"

A friendly man with wildly curly brown hair entered the room. He wore round glasses and a smile that went from ear to ear.

"Please be seated," he told the small groups of students who were still standing at the back of the class, engaged in conversation. They quickly found their seats and turned their attention to the teacher.

When everyone was ready to listen, he begun the introductions.

"Alright," he said, still smiling widely. "Hello, everybody. I'm Mr. Nikaidou, and I'm going to be your homeroom teacher." He paused to write his name on the blackboard. "I hope that you've all had a nice summer, so that you're pumped with energy and ready to learn!"

Some of the students discretely laughed. Mr. Nikaidou just smiled and winked at them. He looked down at his papers, pushing his glasses up on the brim of his nose with one finger. "So, let's check if anybody's missing, shall we?"

He coughed and began shouting the names. Each time he'd said a name, somebody replied tiredly.

"Abe, Natsumi."

" _Here."_

"Aoki, Hajime."

" _Here."_

Amu only listened half-heartedly. She looked around the classroom, peeked at people out of the corner of her eye, while discretely trying to manage her hair. When the teacher suddenly called her name, she instantly put her hands in her lap and tried to look attentive.

"Himamori, Amu."

" _He…"_ Amu began, but then stopped herself, slightly annoyed. "No, it's _Hinamori_ , not Himamori."

The teacher looked up at her, and soon everybody else did, too. Despite her efforts, she was apparently bound to be the center of unwanted attention today.

"Oh, my bad. You're right," Mr. Nikaidou said.

"Well, yeah, I know my own name," she mumbled, and some of the others snickered. But the teacher just brushed it off with another smile and went on with the list.

"Ikeda, Yuki."

" _Here."_

"Mashiro, Rima."

" _Here."_

The voice speaking was really cute, and like most of the others, Amu curiously looked at the girl. Her looks matched her voice; cute and girly. She had very long, soft, blonde hair decorated with a stylish black hair band, big golden eyes, and she seemed very small and fragile.

Even though more than half of the class was staring at her, she didn't react at all. She just continued to look at the blackboard with empty eyes, expressionless and motionless.

 _Freakish._ Amu turned her attention back to the teacher, who was almost done with the name list.

"And finally: Tsukiyomi, Ikuto."

" _Here,"_ a voice replied at a table nearby. Amu looked in the direction of the sly voice, and found that it belonged to none other than the navy-haired hottie.

 _WOW! I'm in the same class as him?_

Like most of the other girls, Amu watched him in awe. As she had noticed this morning, he was very tall and lean. Moreover, he also seemed to be bone-less: he wasn't sitting on his chair as much as lounging on it. He had his hands in his pockets, and his silky hair fell into his face in just the right way. He looked out from under the soft locks at the teacher with dreamy dark blue eyes and a neutral face. The whole 'I'm-totally-chill-but-I-know-I'm-hot'-look suited him pretty well.

"OK," Mr. Nikaidou said, looking up from the paper. "That was it. I'm delighted to see that you're all present today." He flashed a friendly smile at his students. "Just to let you know, I'll be making a sitting chart for the following classes, so don't get too comfortable where you are." He grinned. "And now let's go pick up your books!"

The library was just _enormous._ Amu couldn't believe how big it was compared to the one at her old school. She kept turning her head around, staring at the huge space with its endless rows of bookshelves, reading spaces and computer areas.

"Earth to Amu Himamori!"

She snapped her head towards Mr. Nikaidou.

"It's not Himamori, it's _Hinamori_!"

"Oh, sorry," the teacher said, smiling. "I'll try to remember. But it's your turn now."

"Eh?"

She suddenly found out that she was first in line to get her books, and she blushed bright red when she heard her classmates snicker behind her.

She quickly gathered the books she needed and wrote them in her name before hurrying out of the library again, still feeling the blush on her cheeks. While Amu hadn't liked her reputation at her old school as a tough and cool chick, she certainly didn't like the new one as a clumsy retard that she seemed to be earning now any better. She hated when people laughed at her, or whispered behind her back, or just simply treated her like she was beneath them. But then again, she had never experienced that before, so maybe she just wasn't used to not being looked upon as someone to be respected or idolized.

"Seriously, Amu, you're fifteen years old now. Grow up," she mumbled quietly to herself.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't have her guard up as she turned a corner, and of course she ended up running headfirst into someone coming the other way. Amu barely had time to react, before they slammed together, both of them dropping all of their books.

"Oh, sorry! I'm so sorry!" Amu said in a flustered manner, quickly bending down to collect the books.

The other person bent down as well. "It's OK."

She recognized the voice and looked up to find the navy-haired guy from her homeroom class elegantly picking up his books. He noticed her gaze and looked back at her.

"What?" he asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Eh, uh, that, um…" Amu stuttered for a moment, taken aback by his obvious hotness. "I mean, _NO_!"

 _Nice, Amu._ She blushed hard, feeling stupid again-again. _Just be a retard, that's all you're good at now._

The guy smirked at her when seeing her embarrassed blush. " _Eh?_ " he said slyly. "You don't sound too sure." He leaned in _really_ close, so close that she could tell exactly which hair products he used. "Why don't you check once more?"

"Uh…" She stared at him like an idiot for a few seconds, before willing herself to drop her gaze, her face burning like a million suns.

"There's nothing there," she told him quietly, quickly taking her books and standing up. He just chuckled under his breath at her obvious embarrassment. Standing up as well, he flashed a smile at her.

"Ah. I see." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Thank you… Amu."

 _ARGH! He can remember my name?_ She just stared at him. _Shoot! I can't remember his at all!_

"Uh… You're welcome… you," she replied, quickly backing away. "So, eh, I'll just… you know…"

Feeling even more embarrassed, she turned on her heel and walked down the hallway in a hasty retreat.

This was really not her day. _I'm definitely not the cool and spicy girl anymore,_ she thought with a snort. _Not when I look like a complete mess, constantly space out, and fall or get knocked over every five minutes._ She sighed. _Oh, well… I suppose I got what I wanted. I'm not the popular girl, anymore. I'm just one of the losers._

Fed up with her already unbearable school year, Amu clung tightly to the books and in the loudest voice she dared use uttered the worst curse she knew. "Oh, _fuck it!"_

 **A/N:**

 **So, this is the first chapter. I hope you liked it! Reviews would be greatly appreciated.**

 **Next chapters to come in the next couple of days! :)  
**


	2. Nice To Meet You

**A/N: All right, so here is the next chapter. I was hoping for a few more reactions to the first chapter, but I guess I'll try to bait you with some more chapters and some Amuto goodness. ;)  
**

 **IMPORTANTLY. I realized that I forgot to clarify a thing or two in my rant for the first chapter (gomen), so I'll go ahead and do that now. In this story, Amu and Ikuto are only one year apart and therefore in the same class. Amu, Utau, Kukai, Tadase, and the others are all the same age. Furthermore, Amu is an only child here, which means no Ami. And finally, the school setting is a mixture of influences from the United States, Europe, and Japan (which is why there are a few things that probably do not add up)…** ***sweat drop** *****

 **xXx**

 **2\. Nice to Meet You**

Amu felt a lot better arriving at school on the second day.

After the less than perfect first day, she was determined to try and make her second one better. She'd set three alarm clocks, so she was sure to get up in time, so she wouldn't have to rush through her morning rituals, but could spare some time to try and make herself look and feel good. She'd had a shower, put make-up on and had a good breakfast. With such a good start, Amu couldn't help being a good mood when getting to school.

She made her way in to the building with a smile on her lips. Feeling a lot better and more prepared than the day before, she could easily overlook the hits her reputation had taken the day before. She figured that no one had really formed a clear picture of her in that short time, anyway, so it should not be a problem to turn things around.

Once inside, Amu pulled out her schedule to check where she was going. She had four classes today, which were of course located at the four furthest corners of the school: Art, PE, Social Studies, and Biology. Her smile became a little strained. She did not mind the first classes too much, but she had never been too happy about the sciences; and Biology was definitely no exception.

 _Oh well,_ she thought, determined to have a good idea. _At least, I might get to meet some nice people and hopefully make some friends._

 **x**

The Art teacher was a very nice, young woman with very long hair, who smiled nicely at all of them, even the ones who made it pretty clear that they didn't give two figs about the class.

"Today, I want you to write your name on the big piece of paper in front of you, and then decorate it with shapes, sizes, and colors that you like!" the teacher told them enthusiastically. "I would like to get to know you a little, so put some of 'you' in there!" A girl from what seemed to be the artsy crowd raised her hand to complain that the task was something kindergarteners could do, and that it didn't offer any meaning or insight into the arts. "Don't worry," the teacher answered, addressing the whole class. "For the rest of our time together, we'll explore some more challenging tasks. But for today, we'll stick with this task." The girl still didn't look satisfied, but she grabbed a piece of paper and went to set in the windowsill without further comments.

Amu definitely didn't mind starting out easy. She happily grabbed a pencil, a box of color crayons, all kinds of paint and paintbrushes, and sat down at a nearby table. She wrote her name with big, round letters and grabbed a crayon… only to find out that she had no idea what to draw. She spent the next ten minutes staring at her written name with a stiff half-smile on her face, while listening to the teacher explaining to a guy behind her that his name could impossibly be, 'YOLO' and that he had to redo it, and then telling the girl from before that having the word 'bourgeois' written and crossed out all over the paper could not be the only decoration.

"Hi!"

Amu jumped, interrupted by a sweet voice. She looked up and found a tiny, cute-looking girl with reddish hair standing next to her with paper and crayons in her hands.

"What's your name?" the girl asked, looking at Amu's paper. "Aha, it's Amu," she stated before Amu even had a chance to say anything. "My name is Yaya!" she exclaimed joyfully.

"Uh, um, nice to meet you," Amu mumbled shyly, taken aback by the girl's overt friendliness.

"Great!" Yaya said. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?" she asked, already pulling out a chair. "I don't know anyone in this class, and you looked like you didn't know anyone, either, so I thought you wouldn't mind if I joined you!"

"Uh, OK," Amu just said after a few moments of silence. Yaya seemed completely unaffected by Amu's awkwardness, though, enthusiastically starting her artwork, all the time blabbering about school, her family, friends, and all the reasons why pink was the best color.

After a while, Amu couldn't help smiling. Yaya was so happy, friendly, and enthusiastic, and her bubbly atmosphere quickly spread. Soon, with the encouragement of Yaya's enthusiastic coloring, Amu had even made a nice drawing. She had painted the letters, "A M U", a pinkish red and drawn stitches and badges on them. The background was checked in pink and gray, and she had decorated it with dra-wings of multi-colored bubbles, skulls in greens, pinks, whites, and blacks, and little pieces of candy in different colors. Finally, she had painted the four card symbols, heart, spade, clover, and diamond in the four corners. She was actually quite satisfied with it when handing it to the teacher. Yaya had praised it, too, although hers was also very pretty, yellow with orange letters on a pink background and decorated with ribbons, bows, and little hearts.

Amu felt quite confident that this would turn out to be a favorite class of hers. Amu and Yaya had found out that they had lunch at the same time, and Yaya had invited her to set at her and her friends' table, which Amu gratefully accepted. Seeing as how nice Yaya was, her friends had to be nice as well.

Feeling quite happy with it all, Amu said goodbye to Yaya, swung her bag over her shoulder, and went to PE class.

 **x**

"Alright, people, listen up!"

The crafty PE teacher, Ms. Fujiwara, did have a whistle, but she apparently preferred to use her voice instead. She only had to yell once for people to shut up. Her loud roar made for an effective speakerphone.

The class was seated at the ground, all dressed in the appropriate PE clothes. Amu sat by herself, nervously plucking at the grass and glancing around at her classmates. She recognized a few from the day before, but she did not remember the name, and all in all found it a bit too awkward to try to get in with them. Most of the others seemed to know each other, though, and they all sat together in little groups. She really hoped that this was not an exercise where people had to pick teams, or she would probably be the last one to get chosen.

The teacher introduced herself and the curriculum. "I'm Ms. Fujiwara, and I'll be your PE teacher for the rest of the year. We'll be trying some different sports, some team and individual sports, outdoor and indoor exercises, so there should be something for everyone." She looked around at them all. "Today, we're going to play soccer. Selections for the soccer club will start two weeks from now, and we'll play it in class until then, so that I can recommend people I think are talented and suited for the team. After that, we'll move on to ultimate and outdoor gymnastics." She looked at the class with narrowed eyes. "I'll split you into teams." Amu drew a relieved sigh; she would not get picked last. "The second and the fourth team will have to pick up team shirts, so you can distinguish each other. They're over there." She pointed to a box in a corner of the field.

Amu was on the second team, meaning that she had to go and pick up a yellow shirt. She politely waited for her turn, not wanting to push, which ultimately got her a shirt that was very old and much too big. She had to tie in it a knot at the back, so that it wouldn't get in the way when she kicked the ball around. Feeling absolutely sure that she looked horrible, she dragged herself over to the rest of her team on the field and took a position.

"Alright!" The teacher blew her whistle. "Let the game begin!"

An hour later, Ms. Fujiwara finally called off the soccer games. Amu came to a panting halt, bending over and resting her hands on her knees. She was completely worn out.

Although, she liked soccer, she didn't feel like she'd done that much for the team's victory. It was mostly thanks to a handsome guy with beautiful features and long dark hair. Getting up to walk back and deliver the hideous shirt in the box, she glanced over at the guy. He turned out to be a very good player, and he could easily have won by himself, but he was still nice enough to also play the ball to his teammates. He would probably end up as the school's star player, being showered in praise, with all the guys idolizing him, and with most of the girls salivating over him. After all, he was both skilled and talented and nice and good-looking…

"Hey, you! Watch out!"

 **BUMP!**

Amu barely avoided the soccer ball being kicked in her direction, but the sudden movements made her lose her balance, causing her to trip over a box of team shirts. Trying to avoid falling onto the ground, she ended up falling on her butt into the box in a very inelegant way.

While struggling to get out of it, she heard the rest of the class laugh at her fall, and she blushed a record-breaking red. To make everything worse, she found out that she was completely stuck. _This is not good. Definitely not good._

"I'm so sorry. That was my fault. Are you OK?"

The dreamy guy with the long hair suddenly stood before her, smiling apologetically and reaching out a hand. She gratefully took it, feeling more than a little embarrassed, as he helped her up.

"Thanks, I… eh… well." She didn't quite know what to say, and his pretty smile was making her blush again, so she just send him a weak smile, crossing her arms over her chest.

He just beamed a smile back at her. "You're welcome. I'm Nagihiko Fujisaki," he introduced himself.

"Amu Hinamori," Amu muttered, but still earning another smile.

"It's nice to meet you," he said. "I was watching you during the game. You're not too bad."

Amu looked up at him in surprise. She didn't think he would've noticed her at all. Breaking into a happy smile, she un-crossed her arms. "Thanks," she told him. "But it's nothing next to you. You were great!"

"Oh, do you think so?" She smiled even wider, when she saw Nagihiko's cheeks turn slightly pink at her compliment.

"Are you going to try out for the soccer team?" she asked.

Nagihiko shrugged. "Probably." He made a thoughtful face. "Although, I think I'd rather be on the basketball team…"

"Oh? Are you really good at it, then?" Amu could only imagine how good he must be at basketball, if he himself thought he was even better at that than at soccer.

"I guess I'm OK," he said modestly.

"I bet you're great!" Amu told him, smiling sincerely, causing him to blush once more.

"Thank you." He seemed to consider adding more, but in the end, he just went for it. "I hope you'll come and see me one day, then… Amu."

Both of them blushed, but Amu quickly answered to not stretch the embarrassing moment. "Yes, of course I will!" she assured him. "Nagihiko," she smiled, "I'll definitely be there."

"That's a deal." Nagihiko sent another sweet smile. "Then I'll see you around, Amu."

When he hurriedly walked away, she herself was blushing from the conversation. He was really very sweet, and the way he kept smiling was just so cute. She hoped that they had more classes together. She wouldn't mind spending a little more time with him.

She turned around with a happy smile that stiffened when she realized that she was alone. Everybody had gone back to the dressing rooms, and she was standing there alone, smiling goofily like a moron. She sighed. _So much for turning things around…_ But at least it was lunchtime now, and she would actually have someone to sit with instead of just sitting all alone, as she had feared she would have to in the beginning here. The smile returned to her face in anticipation, as she hurried back to the locker rooms and go to lunch.

 **x**

Somehow, Amu managed to find her way back to the locker rooms. Most of the other girls had already gone, though, meaning Amu ended up being the very last one in there. She quickly changed and did her hair and make-up and hurriedly out, so she would have time to sit and get to know her lunch mates.

She made it to the cafeteria and quickly grabbed a tray to get in line. She nervously looked around at all the tables, but she couldn't see Yaya anywhere with all the people in the way. Figuring that she would find her after, she went to pick out some food.

 _Let's see, now…_ She mused to herself as she went down the line. _rice… fried kelp… octopus… spicy mushrooms… extra salty seaweed… baby tomatoes … And what are those? I think I'll just have some… Hmm, soya... What else…_ Amu was so wrapped up in picking her lunch that she accidentally bumped into the student in front of her.

"I'm sorry!" she said immediately, turning around to face the unfortunate soul – and met the handsome face of yesterday's book encounter accident, her navy-haired classmate.

The guy was looking down at her from his at least five feet, smirking. "Is that a habit of yours, bumping into people?"

Amu's cheeks immediately turned pink, and she quickly looked away.

" _Eh?_ " His smirk widened and he bent down to look her directly in the eyes with a little less space between them than necessary. "The cat got your tongue, huh?"

"I…" Flustered, Amu unintentionally took a step back, bumping into the person behind her.

"I'm so sorry!" she nearly yelled when, whoever it was, tipped his tray and all his tomatoes and oranges and juice cartons and whatnot fell on the floor.

"Oh, no." Amu could have slapped herself. _I'm such a dork!_ But that stupid, navy-haired jerk just laughed at her. Nobody had really noticed the accident before, but now that the hot guy was laughing, everybody was somehow suddenly interested and they all stared, as Amu bent down to help clean up the mess, her face bright red.

"I'm _so_ sorry," she apologized, picking up the food. "I didn't mean to… you?!"

The person grinned at her, and she recognized him as the soccer player from yesterday.

"Hi!" he said, pushing up his cap, and replacing the food and cartons on the tray. "Don't worry; it's just like payback for my knocking you down yesterday. So now we're even!"

He stood up and she followed, smiling shyly. She was glad it was him; most people would've been sulky and told her to watch where she was going, but he just grinned and made a joke of it.'

She was interrupted by a nudge on the shoulder. The navy-haired guy had paid for his lunch and stood beside her with his tray.

"It really _is_ a bad habit," he told her, still smirking, "but at least it's entertaining."

Amu glared at him and picked up her tray. Seeing he'd annoyed her, the guy just winked at her and left with a mocking: "Bye, Amu."

She stood there, staring at the spot he'd just been standing with a dumbfounded expression for a few moments, until the soccer player interrupted her.

"Is he a really close friend or something?" he asked her with a surprised expression, causing Amu to jump. She immediately snapped out of it and turned around with a very strained smile.

"Not at all," she assured the guy, "I don't even know what his name is." Well, she did, but she neither could nor would try to remember. "He's just in my homeroom class, that's all."

"Oh?" The soccer guy seemed surprised. "You looked like you were pretty close…"

"Well, we're not," Amu snapped and moved her tray to pay.

Luckily, the guy just shrugged and grinned.

"I'm Kukai Souma, by the way," he told her when they had both paid for lunch.

"Amu Hinamori," Amu told him.

"Alright! It's nice to officially meet you!" Kukai grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.

" _Amu_ _!_ " A familiar voice called. "Over here!"

Yaya was sitting with a few other people at a lunch table and she was waving her hands all around to get Amu's attention.

"Hi, Yaya," Amu said cheerfully and placed her tray on the table. On an unexpected impulse, she grabbed Kukai by the arm and pushed him closer. "This is Kukai Souma."

"Hi, there!" Kukai waved and grinned. "Can I sit here?"

"Sure, sure!" Yaya immediately pulled out a chair. "We've got lots of room!"

"Thanks!"

Amu and Kukai sat down with the small group of people. Yaya instantly began asking Kukai a lot of questions, which he answered excitedly while stuffing his face.

Apparently, he was also new, having moved to town over the summer as well. Amu excitedly told him that she was new as well and didn't know anyone, either, happy to realize that there was someone in the same situation as her.

"Cool! Let us be friends, then," Kukai said, grinned and gave her a high-five, making Amu laugh. _He seems like a really great guy,_ she thought to herself. _And pretty cute, too_ …

"Hey, hey, Amu!" Yaya suddenly shook her arm. "I want to introduce you to everyone!"

Amu sheepishly looked around the table, having forgotten about the other people that were there. "Of course, please do." She smiled.

"This," Yaya grabbed a handsome boy with glasses by the arm, "is Kairi."

The guy calmly got himself out of Yaya's hold and repositioned his glasses. "Don't grab me like that all of a sudden," he told her, although he didn't seem all that annoyed. He was rather petite, not very tall, and lean. He had stylish dark hair that, when he moved his head, shone almost green, and wore a pair of round glasses that framed his pointy, slim face, drawing attention to a set of intense, green eyes.

"Kairi Sanjou," he said politely, nodding at Amu.

"I'm Amu Hinamori," Amu said shyly. "It's nice to meet you."

"A pleasure," Kairi said, repositioning his glasses once more. Then he returned to his meal.

"And, and, Amu!" Yaya tugged her sleeve again with sparkly eyes. She pulled a blond guy closer, so he was forced to lean over Kairi's lunch. Kairi held his chopsticks still in the air and watched the boy in his lunch with a slight frown on his face.

"This is Tadase!" Yaya exclaimed, tugging the boy's shirt. "He's my best friend!"

And then the above-mentioned Tadase looked up at Amu with the cutest sweat drop smile in history, causing her to stare in awe at his cuteness.

"Tadase," he repeated. "It's nice to meet you,"

"Y-you, too,," she muttered as an answer, flickering her eyes to not make a retard of herself again by staring at him like a complete idiot.

"Hey, hey!" Yaya tucked Amu's sleeve again. "You forgot to say your name, Amu!" She turned to Tadase. "She's Amu Hinamori," she told him.

"Excuse me, Yaya," Kairi suddenly interrupted in his firm and formal voice. "Could you please remove Tadase from my lunch?"

"Whoops, sorry, Kairi." Yaya smiled and let go of Tadase. "It won't happen again, promise!"

Kairi shook his head and said something about the importance of paying attention to one's surroundings, which left an opening for Kukai to reach over and take a piece of roasted veal from his tray.

"Delicious!" Kukai chewed happily. Kairi just stared at him as if he had stolen something precious from him. Yaya grinned and asked if they shouldn't all share their lunch to help each other have a varied meal. Kairi looked like he was about to faint, Amu quickly grabbed a protectively tight hold of the things on her tray, and Tadase sweat dropped smiled in the cutest way again, causing Amu to blush for the millionth time that day.

The rest of lunch break was spent discussing mundane matters, like the sharing of food, the cafeteria, the school, and who knew who in which class.

When the bell rung, they all threw out their trash and went their separate ways after agreeing on having lunch together again the following day.

 **xXx**

 **A/N:**

 **So this was the second chapter - or rather, the first half of it. It sort of goes together with the next one, which I'll be uploading as well.**

 **Please leave a review and make my day! :)**


	3. Less Is More

**3\. Less Is More**

"Social Studies is a very relevant subject." The teacher repositioned his glasses in a very Kairi-like way and looked at the class with a neutral expression. "This class and this subject allow you to look at the society and even the world with different eyes and analyze situations and their reasons."

He flashed a small, but sincere smile. "Hello, I'm Mr. Sakanawa. Welcome to Social Studies."

Amu immediately liked the man standing in front of the desk. He seemed like one of those teachers you learned a lot from, and he probably gave way too much homework for your liking, but you could always come to him for advice and he would always answer your questions.

Mr. Sakanawa looked down at the paper he had in his hand.

"I've made a sitting chart for you," he told them, "and before you complain, let me just tell you that it has been decided already, and I won't change it before the winter break. So, there you have it." A few people sighed quietly, but that was all. It was obvious that Mr. Sakanawa was not someone, who would take any notice of complaining. "I've made the sitting chart from the name list," the teacher explained. "I don't know you yet, although I do know that some of you will cause trouble if I don't make you do this." The teacher discretely smirked for a brief moment. "Therefore, I've based it all on the name list; also to make it easier for me to remember your names. Let's begin."

Amu sighed heavily.

"Natsumi Abe & Minori Endō," Mr. Sakanawa read out loud. "Please be seated at the table over here, when I'm done reading." He coughed discretely and continued.

"Nagihiko Fujisaki & Takeshi Fukuba, next table…"

Amu turned to smile at her encounter from PE, who was currently sitting next to her with one of his friends. He politely returned the smile in his sweet manner. His friend seemed pretty bored, just playing around with his eraser. He noticed Amu looking in his direction and raised his head looked over at her, beaming a slow smile. Amu shyly returned it, before turning her attention to the teacher.

"Amu Hinamori & Rima Mashiro," Mr. Sakanawa read. Amu turned back to the teacher and looked for a clue of who might be Rima Mashiro – until she remembered the blonde, passive girl from the day before.

That girl, whom Amu was absolutely sure had to be Rima Mashiro, was currently sitting across the classroom, by the door. She wasn't doodling on a piece of paper or the table, she wasn't eating, and she wasn't staring into space as if lost in thoughts or daydreams. She was just looking at the blackboard with a stone-hard expression in the same weird way as the previous day.

Mr. Sakanawa looked up from his paper after finishing the list.

"Now that everyone has a table, I would like for you to find it and sit down a hurry. We have a lot to do before the bell goes and I don't want to waste time. So, now, hurry up."

People rose from their chair and for a moment everybody was tangled up in each other's arms, legs, and bags, but eventually, they all succeeded in finding their table.

Amu sat down with a sigh. The blonde girl was already seated, and she was staring at the blackboard again, apparently not at all interested in her new table buddy. However, Amu had promised herself to try to have a good day and meet new people, so she turned to the girl beside her with a friendly smile.

"Hey," she said. "I'm Amu Hinamori. I guess we'll be sharing a table!"

"Obviously," the girl said in a bored voice. Amu sweat dropped, but half-heartedly tried one more time.

"You're Rima, right?" she asked. "It's nice to…"

"Stop talking," the girl suddenly said in a slow voice. "Just because we share a table, it doesn't mean that we have to be friends." She said it all, while still staring at the blackboard. She was apparently just completely done with it all already.

Amu opened and closed her mouth several times, but she couldn't think of a good response, so she just closed her mouth for good and looked the other way. _That's what you get for being friendly…_ she thought sulkily to herself. She glanced over at the blonde girl. _What, does she think that she's better than me?_ The blonde still did not react. Amu's eyebrows set into an offended frown. _At least I know I not to waste any energy on her!_

The rest of the class passed without any more contact between the two. Mr. Sakanawa told them about the curriculum and then introduced them to the first topic. "We will do a group project on the topic in about a month," Sakanawa told them just as the bell went. "So please think of a good theme. Dismissed," he ended calmly.

There was a lot of noise as people collected their stuff and cleaned up their table. Amu grabbed her bag and pushed the chair aside, glancing at Rima while doing so. The girl slowly packed her own bag, assumingly not in hurry at all. Then she stood up and walked out, without so much as a goodbye. Amu grit her teeth. _Stupid sitting chart,_ she thought angrily, huffed, and went out the door, not even noticing that Nagihiko waved at her. He sweat dropped with a confused smile, as she hurried out of the room with an angry scowl on her face.

 **x**

"I made it!"

Amu barged through the door just as the bell rang, panting and slightly sweating. Everybody turned around to see who it was, and some of them snickered, as they recognized her from the earlier incidents.

 _Things are not really going as planned,_ Amu figured in annoyance. _It's only been two days, and people have already laughed at me more than all the time I went to my old school._ She sighed under her breath. _Oh, well, at least I've made some friends, so I guess it's worth it to lose some popularity…_

Still not too happy with the snickering, she went to sit at the last table in the back. Like most labs, the Biology Room had tall tables with room for two people at each side, and with a raised platform in the middle to hold the equipment, make it easier to clean, and keep the students from cheating off each other too much.

She sat down on the tall chair with a sigh, already dreading the class, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. " _Pssst._ Amu."

She slowly turned her head to the right with a sinking feeling in her chest, and met the dreamy sapphire eyes of a certain classmate. He was smirking at her again, she noticed with slight irritation.

"What?" the navy-haired guy asked her. "Aren't you going to bump into me?"

Amu glared at him. _I refuse to let him freak me out,_ she thought, _just because he's totally…_

" _Eh?_ " He leaned closer to her, just like he had done in the cafeteria, except this time he was so close that Amu couldn't look at him without getting cross-eyed. "My, my, Amu, the cat's still got your tongue?"

He smirked almost seductively. "Such naughty kittens."

… _totally, extremely hot!_

Amu quickly got back to her senses and pushed him away from her. Overwhelmed by his lack of boundaries, she blushed an incredible shade of pink.

"Stop doing that," she hissed, crossing her arms and turning away from him, not wanting him to see her bright pink cheeks and flustered expression. _Did he just sexually harass me?_ she pondered in disbelief. _Isn't there a law against this kind of thing?_

"Oh?" He leaned back on his chair, almost lounging on it, and totally ignored her question. "The girl's got a tongue, then."

She glared at him out of the corner of her eye, but he just grinned crookedly. She intensely wished that he would just go away. She didn't even know him, and yet he kept making fun of her. _Maybe Rima wasn't such a bad table buddy after all…_ she thought sulkily.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

The teacher suddenly walked in the door, as calmly as if he was in no hurry at all. He was carrying a stack of paper under one arm and a poster under the other. He smiled friendlily at them, placing everything on the desk.

"The Astrology Club was in quite a situation," he told them, "so I had to help them out. Oh well." He sat down at the desk, still smiling. "Welcome to Biology. I will be your teacher, Tsukasa Amakawa."

He took a piece of paper, looked at it, and then put it down again and smiled with sparkly eyes.

"I don't want to spend five minutes reading names out loud," he said, "so why don't we instead tell each other our names and a little bit about ourselves after turn. I'll start." He put on a neutral expression.

"Hello, my name is Tsukasa Amakawa, and I teach Biology, Physics, and Chemistry here at the school. I'm also head of the Astrology Club, because I really like star gazing. Moreover, I'm a violinist and I used to play the violin in the Japanese National Symphony Orchestra. And last but not least, I love literature and have written several children's books."

At that, Amu sweat dropped, and so did many others. _That was a lot of useless information…_

"Now, it's your turn," he said. "Tell me your name and include your thoughts on this subject; why you chose it, what you like about it, and what you're interested in or good at with regards to the table." He looked over the class with a smile, and then suddenly pointed to Amu's table.

"Ikuto, why don't you continue?" he asked nicely. "So everyone is sure of how to do it."

The annoying guy next to Amu sighed heavily. Amu was a little confused. _How can that teacher already know what his name is?_ _(On another note, Ikuto's a nice name… but that's not important.)_

"I'm Ikuto Tsukiyomi," the guy said in a sly voice. He looked out from under his silky, navy-colored locks in a dreamy way, making a bunch of girls giggle and whisper to each other. "I faltered between Biology and Trig for a long time, but in the end I chose Biology, because it's more…" He paused and smirked at Amu.

"… Physical." He earned another glare from her, but just went on, regardless of the giggling girls. "I like Biology, because I consider it very important in terms of understanding how the world functions. I don't have a favorite topic, so I'm very open-minded."

He put on a seductive smile for the girls, who were still giggling. Amu slapped her forehead, leaning over her table in response to the inane tittering.

"Thank you, Ikuto," Amakawa smiled. "Very good. And you, next to Ikuto?" He pointed at Amu, who immediately blushed, her mind going blank.

"Uh, um, I'm Amu Hinamori. I, eh, chose Biology, because…" She scratched her ear, trying to remember. "Uh… actually, I'd do just about anything to avoid Trig, so…" she said exasperatedly, causing the others to laugh at her again.

Mr. Amakawa just smiled. "It's OK. Go on."

"Um... But I like Biology, because, uh, I like to do experiments, and, um, I think it's good to know, eh, like, how the body functions, and how cells act, and such…" The teacher kept nodding and smiling to her, and she calmed down a little. "Uh, I'm OK with most things, so I suppose I'm fairly open-minded, too…" Her words trailed off and her eyes drifted to the floor.

"Well, thank you, Amu," the teacher said nicely. "That was very honest."

Amu felt her face turn red. Luckily, the teacher pointed to another student, who seemed to be just as clueless about what to say. But that didn't change the fact that Amu felt like a total dork and just wanted to drop this class on the spot.

Sighing, she hid her face in her hands. _That was so embarrassing!_ _I cannot believe how much of an idiot I keep letting myself come off as… This never happened at my old school…_

Suddenly, she felt chills down her back, and she jumped, realizing it was Ikuto blowing in her ear.

"Hey!" she hissed in a low voice, so the teacher wouldn't hear. "You! Stop doing that!"

"Why?" he asked her with the assumingly permanent smirk. "I had to get your attention." She glared at him and his annoying smirk widened. "We should figure out what to do about that situation of yours. Your tongue is either completely missing or in total twists. That cannot be good!."

Amu gritted her teeth. He was such a pain. "How would blowing in my ear help me with tongue twists?" she asked angrily, regretting it immediately, seeing Ikuto's smirk.

He leaned in closer, chuckling softly. "That's true. I suppose we could always try the more direct method…"

Amu blushed deep crimson and yelled:

"YOU PERVERT!"

Everyone fell silent – except for Ikuto who was shaking with laughter – and stared at her. She just stared back, already so filled up with the day's embarrassment that it couldn't really get any worse.

"Yes, Amu?" Mr. Amakawa asked in confusion. "Are you offended by Yuki's introduction?"

She opened her mouth to explain and apologize, but before she had the chance to say anything, Ikuto interrupted her with an unusually straight face.

"She just called you a pervert, Mr. Amakawa."

"Wh… I… I DID NOT!" she spluttered. Ikuto was more than a little amused, and so were several of her fellow classmates.

Mr. Amakawa sweat dropped. "It's nice that you two are having fun, but please calm down until we're done with the presentations." He returned to the student from before. "Please, go on, Yuki."

Amu turned 180 degrees to get away from her classmates' amused expressions – and faced Ikuto, who was hiding his face in his hands to hold his laughter in, and whose body was shaking with it, so much that Amu could feel the table shaking with him.

"Oh, yeah, just laugh," she muttered in a low voice. "Your humor sucks."

"You should've seen yourself," he told her when finished laughing. "It was hilarious!"

"I hate you," she muttered with a scowl and looked the other way, ignoring his smirk. _Stupid pervert!_

"All right," Mr. Amakawa said when the presentations were done with. "We actually don't have much time left, but let me just give you a few pieces of information:" He coughed discretely. "You're making your own sitting chart; or rather you have already done so by choosing your seat today." Amu paled. "You'll be sitting at the same spot every time, and you'll work with your current table partner. In other words, the person next to you right now will be your lab partner until the winter break."

Amu put her head on the table in despair. _No, no, no! This is not happening!_ Ikuto chuckled, probably plotting an evil, perverted scheme.

"You'll have approximately five hand-ins in Biology this year," Amakawa continued, "and I'm harsh when it comes to deadlines, so you better have them done in time." He looked out over the class. "But I think that's it for now. We'll start our first topic next time. I'll see you then!"

And finally, Amu's day was over. She hurriedly stuffed her books into her bag, making sure she had everything, before swinging the bag over her shoulder, and getting ready to leave…

"Hey, Amu." Ikuto grabbed a hold of her bag, jerking her a few steps backwards. "You're not going without saying goodbye, are you?"

"Let go of me, pervert!" Amu yelled, kicking her arms in legs to get free of his hold. When he didn't release her, she glared up at him, making him chuckle.

"All right." He let go of her bag, making her tumble backwards, and walked past her out of the classroom. "Bye, Amu!"

She considered running after him just to smack him over the head or something, but then decided not to. She was tired and sulky and she just wanted to go home and relax. _I'm going to need all my energy if I'm going to survive with the kind of table partners I keep getting,_ she thought tiredly. _I can't waste it all already…_

Sighing heavily, she finally left the classroom.

 **xXx**

 **A/N:**

 **So, here is the third chapter, or, probably more likely, the second half of the second chapter. Now, almost all of our characters and their relation to Amu has been introduced, and we can get on with the plot itself. Next chapter coming soon! :)**

 **Please review and make my day!**


	4. Peace is a City in China

**A/N: Okay, so here is the fourth chapter. I don't actually have much to say, so I don't know why I put this author's note here… Ah well, on with it.**

 **xXx**

 **4\. Peace is a City in China**

 _OK, so the first two days didn't go exactly as planned – but today I will…_

Amu mumbled encouraging words to herself, as she walked down the hallway to her first class, which was English. From the looks of it, she would be with her homeroom class, which she didn't really mind – except for the fact that Zombie Rima and Ikuto the Pervert would be there! Amu balled one hand into a fist at the thought. _If I could, I would…_

But it was going to be OK. It wasn't like they would insist on sitting on each side of her during class. She would just ignore them, and then it would be fine.

She arrived, just as the bell rang, and she was surprised to see that Mr. Nikaidou was already there, and furthermore, that he had already begun the class.

"Ah, good morning, Amu Himamori!" he said with a friendly smile.

"It's _still NOT_ Himamori!" Amu said, one eyebrow twitching. "It's Hinamori, with an N!"

"Oh, right," the teacher said, calmly brushing it off. "Please come on in," he continued, "I'm just reading the new sitting chart."

Only then, Amu noticed that her fellow classmates were all standing at the wall with their bags and jackets, and that all the tables were free and clean. Amu quickly joined the group, making sure not to stand too close to either Ikuto or Rima, so they couldn't ruin her mood.

 _Those two would make a great couple,_ she thought darkly, _since they're both so irritating._ **(A/N: Rikuto, anyone? No? XD)**

"Alright!" Her teacher interrupted her dark thoughts. "So, we'll follow this sitting chart at least until Christmas." He pushed his round glasses in place with his right middle finger and smiled. "I've tried to pair you up from a professional view, so please try to look at it from that angle, too, before you complain to me." He coughed discretely. "OK. I'll start in the back." He pointed to a table. "At the table near the wall I've put Natsumi Abe; then it's Yuki Ikeda…"

The two students went to sit at their new tables, seemingly happy enough with each other. Amu felt encouraged by this. _Perhaps, I'll get a good table partner, too, then…_

"… Daisuke Niwa; Riku Harada…" Those two smiled at each other, apparently also happy with having each other as table partners. "… Hajime Aoki; Shigeko Hayashi…"

Up until now, everybody seemed happy about the sitting chart. Amu crossed her fingers.

"… Hiromi Yuasa; Ikuto Tsukiyomi; Amu Himamori; and Rima Mashiro."

Amu just stared at the teacher for a few moments, unable to understand this unbelievable bad luck or correct the pronunciation of her last name.

 _SAY WHAT?!_

She opened and closed her mouth several times, but she wasn't sure how to protest. And now everybody was looking at her, expecting her to move. And although she tried to block him out, she just _knew_ that Ikuto was smirking at her right now.

"Please be seated, all of you," the teacher said, looking at Amu, who felt that she had no other choice than to go sit at her new table.

Crestfallen, she fell into the seat letting her bag fall on the floor. One moment later, Ikuto elegantly placed himself on his chair, smirking widely at her. Rima slowly went to sit down in her seat; she moved like a robot and didn't even look at her table partner.

 _Can this suck any more?_ Amu thought tiredly. One moment later, a very tall guy went to sit in front of her and blocked her view. Amu folded her arms on the table and buried her face in them. _I hate my life…_

She was so depressed that she was still lying exasperatedly over her table, when her teacher began the class. That was one good thing about this seat; because of that tall guy in front of her, she couldn't be caught in not paying attention. But that was about the only good thing. How on earth did she end up sitting next to the only two people she didn't like all the time? It was simply not statistically realistic or fair.

She was interrupted in her dark thoughts when a folded piece of paper landed on her desk. She looked up from her arms in surprise. Slowly and carefully, so the teacher wouldn't notice, she opened the note, which seemed to have been pulled out of a student handbook.

 _Amu,_ it read. _Quit the angst. You're not cute at all when you're being a lame emo. Ikuto._

Amu just stared at the paper. Then she reread it twice, just to be sure that she had understood it clearly. And then she was pretty mad about it.

She turned her head and shot Ikuto a dirty glare. He, of course, didn't react to her scowl at all. But Amu was certain that she saw a tiny smirk at the corners of his mouth. And he was _so_ going to pay!

She grabbed a pen and scribbled a message on the back of his note with gritted teeth.

 _Ikuto_ , she wrote. _Quit talking through your ass, moron. You're not cute at all. Go away. Amu._

She tossed the paper at his desk with a smug expression on her face and buried it in her folded arms again, hoping that the class would end soon. There could only be… a few light years left of it now.

Once again, a rude note landing on her desk interrupted her thoughts.

 _Amu. Thanks. I like your ass, too. Ikuto._

Amu felt her face turn bright red, and she quickly bent over her table to write a response, letting her hair fall over and cover her face.

 _Ikuto. I'll sue you for sexual harassment, if you don't stop bothering me RIGHT NOW. I mean it! Amu._

She quickly received a response – which he responded to. And so forth:

 _Amu. Don't start. I saw what your eyes were looking at in Biology yesterday – and it wasn't the blackboard. You perverted kid. Ikuto._

 _Ikuto. That's a lie! And are you seriously calling ME a pervert? What are YOU?! Amu._

 _Amu. I'm the victim, obviously. But don't worry. I'm used to it. Ikuto._

 _Ikuto. How big is your ego, you narcissistic jerk?! Amu._

 _Amu. I know the size of my ego is irrelevant to you. Other things, however...  
_

 _IKUTO! YOU'RE THE BIGGEST PERVERT OF ALL TIME!_

 _You're the one who asked, Amu._

 _PERVERT! This conversation is over!_

 _You know you want to know. And I'll tell you mine, if you'll tell me yours._

 _YOU CAN'T SAY THAT TO PEOPLE, YOU FREAKY, MOLESTING PERVERT!_

 _I didn't say anything. I wrote it._

 _YOU CAN'T DO THAT, EITHER!_

 _I thought this conversation was over._

"Alright, class!"

Amu was interrupted in writing an evil response full of filthy words, when her teacher closed the book in his hand very soundly.

"This is it for now." He smiled. "You've all been very nice and quiet today. I'm happy to see that. I hope this will continue. Then maybe, I can let you do some fun, free assignments some time."

He smiled even wider and closed his eyes, cocking his head to one side. "Dismissed."

Everybody rose from their seats, and paper crackling, loud conversations and chairs roughly being pushed around coated everything in noise. The homeroom teacher just smiled and began stuffing things in his own bag.

Rima Mashiro mechanically rose from her seat and went out the door, not even looking at anybody.

 _She's such a freak…_ Amu thought tiredly. She didn't know why, but she put the paper with all the dirty notes on inside her English book and then slid the book down her bag along with her note pad and pen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ikuto smirking widely at her, but she just shot him a glare and walked out of the classroom.

 _Ikuto is such a jerk!_ Amu thought angrily walking down the hallway. _He can't write stuff like that!_ She blushed, thinking about what he had written. _I bet it's even illegal!_

Her angry thoughts continued all the way to her locker. She unlocked and opened it with a little more force than necessary. A few people turned around to stare at her, but she just ignored them while finding the books for her next class. Those people didn't have to put up with…

"Yo, perverted kid."

" _I-Ikuto!_ "

Amu jumped so hard that she smacked her hand right into the doorframe of her locker. **PNNNONNG.**

"Ouch, ouch, ouch…" She dropped what she was holding and began jumping around on one foot, shifting them for every step, while holding her right hand with her left and gritting her teeth. She tried blowing on it, but it still hurt. She could see a mark where her skin had made contact with the frame.

Ikuto half laughed, half snorted as she jumped around like a complete idiot. Everyone was staring, and Amu could feel her face turn red, while holding on to her hand as if it was about to fall off.

"What are you doing?" Ikuto asked her through his rude laughing sounds. Amu glared at him.

"I'm in pain! What does it look like?" she hissed through gritted teeth. He shook his head.

"It looks like you're imitating a drugged clown from a French mime play circus." That comment earned him another dirty glare from Amu.

"Why are you here?" she asked him, as the pain slowly faded. "Your locker is like… elsewhere." She turned her back to him and tried collecting the books for the next class again.

"No, it's not," he said. "It's right there."

She looked over her shoulder to see him point to a locker at the end of the line. _Damn._

"Well, then go over there," she said brusquely and slid the books into her bag. She took her English book from the bag and put it in the locker. She found a new pen. He was still there.

"Well, _go_ ," she repeated. "You're annoying me."

She suddenly felt him rest his chin on her shoulder and she almost froze.

"You're so cold, Amu," he breathed into her ear. Amu shivered. His breath _was_ actually really warm…

"H-hey," she stuttered, moving out of his way so he had to remove his head. He just chuckled. Amu could picture him smirking at her right now, but she didn't bother turning around and checking. She just closed the door hard, and began walking down the hallway. But Ikuto followed her – again.

"Get lost," she told him harshly, but he just shook his head with a little more animation than necessary.

"You're such a pain in the ass," Amu muttered under her breath, but he heard her.

"Ah. Again with the ass." His smirk widened. "Do you want me to walk in front of you or something?"

"You… you pervert!" she said, blushing pink. He snickered. She just glared.

"Why don't you go find your own class?" she asked him angrily. "Stop annoying me."

"I am." He nodded to indicate the way. "I have Geography now. Like you."

 _Noooooo! Will this nightmare_ _ **never**_ _end?_

"Then… then find the class on your own!" she hissed, in her mind picturing him falling through the floor.

"Nah. It's not as fun." Ikuto smirked provocatively. She gritted her teeth, but didn't respond. Apparently, she was the joke around here. She might as well get used to it.

Rushing into the Geography room on the escape from Ikuto and his perverted jokes, Amu noticed Tadase and Kairi, the two boys from lunch, right away, sharing a table by the windows. Tadase was carefully arranging his books on the table while smiling as if in a good mood. Amu could already feel her face turning pink just by watching him smile like that. He surely was extremely cute.

Amu forced herself to tear her eyes off of Tadase to look for possible seats. Most tables were already occupied, and there was a pleasant buzzing of voices and laughs. Amu noticed that Rima was sitting all alone in the back of the class, staring into space in her usual creepy manner. Except for Tadase and Kairi, she was, however, the only person that Amu actually knew in this room.

Suddenly, Tadase looked up from all the stuff on his table and, noticing that Amu was indecisively standing by the door, he flashed a friendly smile and waved her over.

"Amu," he called. "Over here."

Tadase pointed at the empty table right next to the one that he and Kairi was sitting at. Amu quickly made her way over there, her heart spilling over with relief.

"H-Hi," she breathed as sitting down next to the boys. "T-Tadase. Kairi."

"Hello," Tadase replied friendlily. Kairi just nodded at her.

"I didn't know that we had any classes together," Tadase continued with a smile, "but it seems that we do."

"I-I guess so." Amu just couldn't stop stammering. Whenever she met Tadase's beautiful ruby eyes, she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her heart beat much faster than usual. She could feel her cheeks turn pink. This guy was just much too cute for her to cope with.

Tadase just kept smiling.

"I hope that you'll be joining us for lunch again today?" he asked.

"S-Sure," Amu stuttered. "I-I did make you that promise yesterday, r-right?"

"I'm glad."

Ikuto suddenly entered the door. He scanned the room for a place to sit, and, as he noticed the empty seat next to Amu, he smirked widely and made a move to go sit there. But then he suddenly stopped dead in tracks. His smirk disappeared from his face, which fell into a stone hard expression.

Amu was confused by this. He had spent the entire day trying to get in her face and annoy her, so it made no sense that he suddenly took such an intense dislike to her.

"Ikuto Tsukiyomi."

Surprised, Amu turned her eyes to Tadase. He, too, suddenly looked like he wanted to kill someone. His eyes were as hard as rock. His teeth were even gritted. Amu just couldn't believe the big difference from the friendly smile that had caressed his features just before.

Confused, Amu looked from Tadase to Ikuto and back again. There was no mistaking that they were looking at each other. Tadase seemed the angriest – he looked as though he could jump up and start beating Ikuto any moment. Ikuto only grew more expressionless every second.

Suddenly, Ikuto broke the glare, snorted, and went to sit at a table in the back of the class. Amu followed him with the eyes, as he threw his bag on the floor and himself on the chair, and, shockingly gracefully, slid into his usual lounging position.

Tadase also followed him with the eyes, although his expression was a lot more hostile. Amu turned to look at him, still very confused as to what was going on.

 _They really must hate each other,_ she thought to herself. _I don't think I've ever seen anyone sending each other such dirty glares._

"Ikuto Tsukiyomi," Tadase said again, still eyeing his enemy scornfully. "This class suddenly became a whole lot less pleasant to be in."

Amu was still trying to figure out what on earth was going on, when the teacher entered the room, and demanded their full attention. Tadase seemed to relax within the first ten minutes of the class, and he soon begun taking notes. Ikuto, on the other hand, was looking out of the window during the rest of the class and didn't seem to be paying attention at all. He lightly jerked when the bell rung.

Amu was so caught up in the drama between the two guys that she realized that she had not heard a word of what the teacher had said during the entire class. The notepad in front of her was as blank as her mind. It was so not good.

But there was really not much she could do about it. She would just have to pay more attention next time.

 _Why must high school begin this badly for me?_ she thought exasperatedly.

The other students were already on their way to the cafeteria, so Amu hurriedly tossed all her things in her bag. Tadase and Kairi were already waiting for her.

"Amu," Tadase called. "Are you coming?"

She nodded and quickly rose from her seat, tossing her bag over one shoulder.

On the way out of the room, she noticed that Ikuto still had not left. He was standing by his table, looking at her with an unfathomable expression. She turned her head just long enough for him to catch her eye. The look he shot at her was absolutely impossible to read.

"Amu?" Tadase called again.

Reluctantly, Amu tore her eyes off of Ikuto and hurriedly followed Tadase and Kairi out of the room, fighting the urge to look back at that mesmerizingly unfathomable face behind her.

 **xXx**

Lunch was even better than the day before. Today, Nagihiko had joined the group, and he just clicked perfectly with the others. Although, none of them really knew each other that well, they seemed to work exceptionally well together.

The bell rung all too soon.

Amu collected her trash on the tray and went to throw it out. When she returned to the table, Kukai was already waiting for her. He grinned widely. "Shall we?" he asked. Amu nodded and grabbed her stuff before following Kukai down the hallway.

It had been revealed during lunch that Amu and Kukai both had Mathematics in third period this day. Furthermore, they had found out than none of them neither liked nor were good at Math. They had, however, both been forced to take the class this year. They had both been very dissatisfied with this arrangement, but finding out that they at least weren't alone made it a whole lot easier to go to class.

Entering the classroom, they found that they were some of the last students to arrive, and therefore that most of the tables were occupied. As usual, the room was buzzing with activity and conversations from the other students sitting or standing in small groups around the room.

Kukai nudged Amu on the shoulder.

"Over there," he said into her ear to drown out the noise around them, "there is one free table over by the windows."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, nearly throwing himself at the table to prevent others from taking it. When having secured the territory, he grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. Amu couldn't help giggling. He was such a goofball.

Amu had just sat down and was rummaging through her bag to find her books, when a familiar voice caught her attention.

"… so ridiculous! I'm already a professional singer! She should be kissing my feet and begging me to participate in her stupid play!"

The fierce blonde beauty, who had laughed at Amu on the first day, entered the room. She strutted in like she owned the room, and people immediately stopped doing what they were doing to look at her.

She was followed by none other than Ikuto. He was looking more chill and cool than ever, though maybe also slightly bored with the blonde girl.

"… and it just makes me so mad!"

The blonde slammed her fashionable bag onto the last free table, which, due to Amu's apparent misfortune, was located next to the one she was sitting at. The blonde sat down under much hubbub and flicked her hair with an annoyed look upon her face. Ikuto gracefully slid into the chair next to her and fell into his preferred lounging position.

"This school sucks!" the blonde exclaimed. "I cannot believe that I have to spend the next four years of my life here!"

She was the only voice in the room. Everybody else had fallen silent as soon as she walked in. As she closed her long monologue with the last emotional statement, the usual buzzing of voices slowly filled the room again.

Kukai whistled quietly, an incredulous look on his face.

Amu nodded. This girl was so definitely trouble. Someone ought to put a warning on her. The teacher was going to suffer from a heart attack from trying to teach that girl; that was for sure.

Amu rummaged around her bag in search of a calculator, and when she looked up again, she found Ikuto smirking at her in his usual obnoxious way.

"Hi there, Amu," he said huskily.

She just ignored him and concentrated on bringing her old dusty calculator back to life. It had been an entire summer vacation since she last used it, and it seemed like the machine had gotten used to being turned off.

Ikuto's smirk only widened. He put his hands behind his neck and leaned back in the chair.

"It seems that we have quite the situation here," he said mockingly while looking at her. "I've found myself wondering whether you're ever going to get your tongue back."

Amu slammed the calculator against the table in a desperate attempt to turn it on.

"You of all people certainly needn't worry about my tongue," she hissed, her face red from the frustrations that both her calculator and perverted class mate were putting her through.

"Oh, is that so?" Ikuto just kept smirking insultingly. Being extremely annoyed with the both of them, Amu seriously considered just throwing her calculator at the stupid jerk.

Ikuto leaned forwards again, placed his one arm on the table and rested his chin in his hand.

"I certainly needn't worry about your claws, either." His smirk was so wide at this point that it was surprising that his face didn't crack from the pressure. _"Meow."_

Amu sent him a dirty glare. She noticed that Kukai and Utau were both following the conversation with an almost equal amount of surprise and confusion on their faces.

Ikuto just kept annoying Amu.

" _Wheeze,"_ he mocked.

Amu tried to ignore him. Maybe he would stop being such an ass if there was no reaction.

The blonde leaned forward and nudged Ikuto on the shoulder.

"Why are you talking to that loser?" she asked, as if truly confused.

Amu was just about to open her mouth and tell her off, when the teacher entered the room and cut off all conversation. He went to sit his bag on his desk before turning to the class with a friendly smile.

"Hello, class," he said warmly. "Welcome to Mathematics. My name is Sousuke Yoshida, and I'm going to be your teacher."

"Obviously," the blonde girl mumbled sarcastically.

Mr. Yoshida grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote one frightening word on the blackboard: _ALGEBRA_.

"There you have it," he told them all friendlily. "This semester is all about algebra. So take out your book and turn to page 32."

Amu turned to said page in her book and was met by what could only be described as a bunch of incomprehensible hieroglyphics.

"What even is this?" the blonde complained quietly. Ikuto yawned and practically lay down on his chair. There was a quiet bustling of dissatisfaction and complaints.

 _I just knew it!_ Amu thought to herself. _This class is so going to suck!_

She suddenly noticed that Kukai was flicking through the pages of a Biology book.

"I can't find it!" he mumbled. "This doesn't say anything about algebra…"

Amu couldn't help smiling warmly.

 _Alright – maybe not that much after all!_

 **xXx**

 **A/N: So, here we are!**

 **I'm sorry for making Utau seem so unlikeable here. For those of you, who like your Amuto with a side of Kutau, do not worry – it will all turn out okay in the end!**

 **And if you've made it this far in reading - put those fingers to good use and drop me a comment to let me know what you think. (:**


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